Workplace aid for kitchens

ABSTRACT

A workplace aid for kitchens having a working surface for cutting and cleaning vegetables, fruit or the like, and for subsequent direct conveyance into a container. The workplace aid composed of a case having a circular design and having a work plate which constitutes the upper closure, is integrated, in its entirety, in a working surface having a cut-out of a kitchen combination. The work plate, lying loose on the case and being connected to a lift table which is seated eccentrically on the case bottom of the case and has a scissor-type design, is adjustable in its height and laterally displaceable. This has the advantage that the prepared, for example, vegetables can easily be conveyed into a ready container due to the adjustability of the work plate in its height and the lateral displacement of the work plate over the cooking area.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a workplace aid for kitchens, in particular, having a working surface for cutting and cleaning vegetables, fruit or the like, and for subsequent direct conveyance into a container.

RELATED TECHNOLOGY

[0002] The preparation of food of any kind is predominantly carried out on the working surface of a kitchen. Generally, simple chopping boards are used for that purpose. For reasons of hygiene, these chopping boards are predominantly made of cut- and scratch-proof materials. However, it is also generally known to design the working surfaces of kitchens in such a manner that they are suitable both for receiving hot objects such as cooking pots or the like and also for cutting bread, vegetables, etc. To this end, a material is used which is resistant against high temperatures but has also such a degree of hardness that kitchen work can be carried out on its surface without giving rise to traces of surface destruction. Working surfaces of granite have proved to be very suitable for this. These granite working surfaces are not only very expensive but also very complicated to install because of their weight. To avoid this, one has gone over to use these high-quality materials only in a certain region of the working surface.

[0003] However, it is also disadvantageous that the vegetables, fruit, fish, or the like which have been chopped up or cut into thin strips on a working surface can only very cumbersomely be conveyed from the working surface into a container such as a pot, receiving dish, or the like without something falling aside. The parts which have fallen aside have to be picked up and put into the container separately. The falling aside of parts is also unavoidable during conveyance from a working surface or work plate which is used as chopping plate into a container, particularly since the work plate must be lifted and brought into the region of the container opening for conveying these chopped up parts into the container. This disadvantage is addressed by German Utility Patent No. DE-GM 78 03 049 according to which a magnetic holding device for detachably securing a receiving container is provided at the work plate which has a square or rectangular surface area and is composed of wood, plastic, or other suitable materials, the magnetic holding device being arranged in such a manner that the upper, horizontal plane of the work plate is arranged above the upper rim of the receiving container. The height of the work plate and the height of the receiving container can be selected as needed. However, if the receiving container has a larger height compared to the work plate, supporting feet which are arranged at the work plate and have a telescopic design are extended until the work plate has the same height as the upper rim of the receiving container. In this manner, it is achieved that the chopped material can easily be conveyed into the receiving container without something falling aside. When the telescopic supporting feet are not needed, they can be swung in by folding them against the lower side of the work plate which has recesses corresponding to the shape of the supporting feet. However, this design approach with its advantage of nearly ruling out that cut vegetables or the like fall aside, has the disadvantage that the work plate always projects relative to the remaining working surface of the kitchen, corresponding to its thickness, thus frequently being in the way in a restricting manner.

[0004] Regardless of whether the food is prepared on a kitchen board (e.g. a chopping board) or directly on the working surface of the kitchen, whether the chopping of vegetables, the kneading of dough, etc. take place in kitchen machines specially developed for that purpose, the preparation of food and subsequent related work take a not inconsiderable part of the time of daily housework in spite of many new technologies which have made their entrance into housekeeping, as well.

[0005] It is not unknown that implements such as knife, fork, spoon, scraper, etc. immediately required for the preparation of food are often kept at the most different places within the kitchen. The disadvantage of this is that they are not always handily available when they are immediately needed. This results in that, during the daily work at the working surface, the available surface, which is mostly only scanty anyway, is quickly covered by utensils which are temporarily laid down at the workplace because they are probably needed again immediately but which, in the meantime, thus take up the space which would actually be needed for trouble-free working. Thus, kitchen scales which, when not used, are located at an arbitrary location, whether it is inside or on top of the kitchen cabinet, must be put up for use at an appropriate location. This requires a certain place, wherever it may be, for the use or non-use thereof. Starting from the assumption that in many kitchens, there is not always sufficient storing surface available, one has partially gone over to integrate kitchen scales in the work plate in such a manner that the scale surface forms an integrated whole with the surface of the work plate. The advantage of this is that the scale is always available, ready for work. In this case, however, it is disadvantageous that the scantily dimensioned working or storing surface, which is frequently the case in small kitchens, is further restricted as a function of the size of the scale since the surface of the scale cannot be used as working surface. A further disadvantageous effect is that the lighting at the immediate workplace is frequently not sufficient, thus making the work during the preparation of food more difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] To counter these disadvantages, it is an object of the present invention to devise a workplace aid for kitchen work which can be used multi-functionally.

[0007] The present invention provides a workplace aid for kitchens having a working surface for cutting and cleaning vegetables, fruit or the like, and for subsequent direct conveyance into a container. The workplace aid (4) composed of a case (7) having a circular design and having a work plate (10) which constitutes the upper closure, is integrated, in its entirety, in a working surface (5) having a cut-out of a kitchen combination (1).

[0008] The work plate, lying loose on the case and being connected to a lift table which is seated eccentrically on the case bottom of the case and has a scissor-type design, is adjustable in its height and laterally displaceable. This has the advantage that the prepared, for example, vegetables can easily be conveyed into a ready container due to the adjustability of the work plate in its height and the lateral displacement of the work plate over the cooking area. A further advantage over the known related art is that, because of the integration of the work plate including its lift table into the working surface of the kitchen combination, the work plate protrudes from the working surface of the kitchen in a manner that it is only slightly raised, thus hardly being in the way in a restricting manner. At the same time, via a thrust bolt arranged at the foot of the lift table, the lift table, in conjunction with the work plate of the workplace aid, possesses the function of a scale in the extended condition. The display panel for the weighing function is arranged at the transparent work plate. Integrating the scale into the workplace aid has the advantageous effect that the scale is always immediately available and that the surface of the scale can also be used as a work plate in the drawn-in condition. For the storage of utensils immediately required for the preparation of food such as knife, fork, scraper, etc., a receptacle is provided in the case of the workplace aid. By the thus provided storing possibility which is arranged relatively centrally, one has the above-mentioned necessary aids quickly at hand without much trouble or searching. In individual cases, the case of the workplace aid possesses a further receptacle for kitchen machines having a motor. A lighting is fixedly installed on the case wall of the case. With that, a nearly optimum illumination of the working area is achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] In the following, the present invention is explained in greater detail on the basis of an exemplary embodiment, in which:

[0010]FIG. 1 shows a kitchen unit having an integrated workplace aid;

[0011]FIG. 2 shows a top view of the workplace aid;

[0012]FIG. 3 shows a top view of the workplace aid with swung-out work plate;

[0013]FIG. 4 shows a section through the work plate with lowered workplace aid; and

[0014]FIG. 5 shows a section through the work plate with extended workplace aid.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] As can be gathered from the individual drawings, workplace aid 4 is a case 7 which has a preferably circular design and which is composed of a circumferential case wall 8 and a case bottom 9. The upper closure of workplace aid 4 is formed by a work plate 10 which lies loose on case wall 8 and is adjustable in height and laterally displaceable, and which is preferably composed of a transparent heat-resistant and scratch-proof material, such as Sekurit glass. Workplace aid 4, in its entirety, is adapted in its height to the thickness of working surface 5 of kitchen combination 1. According to FIG. 1, working surface 5 of a kitchen combination 1 has a cut-out 6 in which workplace aid 4 is integrated, arranged between a cooking location 2 and a sink cabinet 3. This does not rule out that workplace aid 4 can also be arranged at another location of the kitchen, just as the customer wishes.

[0016] The height adjustment and the lateral displacement of work plate 10 of workplace aid 4 are brought about by a lift table 11 which is seated on case bottom 9 of case 7 and has a scissor-type design, and at whose one shank foot, a roller 18 is located. As can be gathered from FIG. 5, lift table 11 is arranged eccentrically on case bottom 9 of case 7. In this manner, it is achieved that the vertically extended work plate 10 of workplace aid 4 can be displaced horizontally via roller 18. By the vertical extension of work plate 10, possibly up to the upper rim of a container 13, and due to the lateral displaceability of work plate 10, it becomes possible for the vegetables, fruit, meat, or the like, which have been processed on work plate 10 of workplace aid 4 in the lowered condition to be easily conveyed into container 13 without something falling aside. Besides its function of adjusting work plate 10 in its height, lift table 11 also fulfils the function of a scale in such a manner that the one shank of lift table 11, via its roller 18 located at the shank foot, moves toward a pressure sensor 14 arranged on case bottom 9 during the extension of lift table 11. When lift table 11 reaches its final height, the one shank, via its roller 18 located at the shank foot, comes to sit on pressure sensor 14, allowing the weighing operation to be carried out. Since work plate 10 is firmly locked in the lowered condition for processing items of the most different types, weighing is only possible in the extended condition of work plate 10. Display panel 15 for the scale can be arranged at transparent work plate 10 or also on case bottom 9 of case 7. In case 7, moreover, a receptacle 16 is provided for the utensils required for the immediate preparation of food such as knife, fork, scraper, etc., as well as a receptacle 17 for kitchen machines having a motor. To improve the lighting conditions in the region of workplace aid 4, a lighting 12 is fixedly installed on the case wall 8. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A workplace aid for a kitchen to aid in cutting, cleaning, and subsequent direct conveyance of foods into a container, the kitchen having a working surface, the workplace aid comprising: a substantially round case integrated into a cut-out defined by the working surface; a work plate disposed entirely in the case and forming an upper closure to the case.
 2. The workplace aid as recited in claim 1 further comprising a lift table disposed eccentrically on a bottom of the case and connected to the work plate, the lift table being extendable so as to adjust a height and a lateral position of the work plate.
 3. The workplace aid as recited in claim 2 further comprising a pressure sensor disposed in the area of a foot of the lift table, and wherein the lift table together with the work plate function as a scale in an extended condition.
 4. The workplace aid as recited in claim 3 further comprising a display panel associated with the work plate.
 5. The workplace aid as recited in claim 4 wherein the work plate is transparent and the display is visible through the work plate.
 6. The workplace aid as recited in claim 1 wherein the case defines a storage receptacle underneath the work plate, whereby the receptacle is useable for storing utensils.
 7. The workplace aid as recited in claim 6 wherein the case defines a second receptacle underneath the work plate, whereby the second receptacle is useable for motorized kitchen machines.
 8. The workplace aid as recited in claim 1 wherein the case includes a lighting disposed in a wall of the case. 